Aeroplane.



W. F. wfLEs, T; MACLBOD su P. w. WILESL AEBOPLANB. APPLIOTION FILED 00T.19, 1911.

AEROPLANE.

APPLIGATOH FILED 00T.19.'1911.

. y W. P. WILES, T. MAQLEOD @L F. WWILBS y a 1,075,533@I Patented out.21, 1913.

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WILLIAM FRANCYS WEI'LS. THOMAS MAC'LEDQ, AD FREDERICK WILLAMI WILES, 0E'

.5L-am). AUSTRALIA..

AEROPLANE.

Specill'cation of Letters 'atent.

.Patentes Oct. 21, i913.

.appnmian filed october 1o, 1'91'1. serial No. 655,483.

To aN Iwhom. 't may .o0/wcm Be it known that we., Winnaar FRANC-,1s\\f'1r,ns,"l`rm.\xas Mannion, and Farini-mina Hamam VVnazs, subjects otthe King ol' the United Kingdom of Great llriain and 1re.- laud,residing at Brisbane, in the State ot' Queensland. 'Commonwealth ofAustralia. have. invented certain new and useful lmproveinents inimproved Aeroplanes; and we do hereby deelare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, snch as willenable, others skilled in the, a-rt to which it; appertains to malte anduse the same.

, Our intention consists of various im-l provements in or .relating toaeroplanes, or any siu'iilnr device or apparatus sueh as inonoplanes,tripla-nes, tripanes, inultiplanes or any other forni of flyingniarhines--all of which will hereafter be termed aeroplanes.

According to onr invention the aeroplane is constructed with a View tosafety; it has two snperinniosed planes construct-ed in three sections.The three sections can be readil)Y conuerted for flight and as readilj)7disconnected l'or transport or housing; the

middle sertion carries the port and starboard.

inain planes. and the chassis or underoarringe, the elm-'atom tail andrudder, motors, propellers, air engine, and levers 'tor oporat ing themain planes. The main port and starboard pla'iies can he moveddihedrally from the horizontal to l5 degrees or to any lesser or greaterdegree at the will of the aviator.

At the extremities ot the top port and starboard main planes areattached ailerons. These are connected to the top portand starboard mainplanes by laminated springs, or hinges, or similar or other means. Theailerons are connected together above and below by wire cords i, orother suitable means and to a control. that is free to .move, and bemoved: said control being fixed' to thecliassis or under-carriageconvenient to the operator. Ther ailerons being thnsoonnerted itnecessarily follows that when one is raised the other is depressed tothe saine degree and vice versa. They can be. so operated 'Whether theport-'and starlmard sections of the main planes' are level or are raisedat. a dihedral angle. When the port and starboard seetions of the mainplanes are raised as aforesaid, the ailerons are drawn downward rela-Abut for this use of these ailerons.

tively to the dihedral angle of the said sections in suoli a way thatwhen those sections are raised to l5 degrees the ailerons-are level'.Thisrednrzes the slip of atmospheric pres sure at the ends o' the planeswhich would increase as the dihedral angle is increased, Other angles ofadjustment .tor the ailerons may however he used. ln starting theaeroplane, the lport and starboard sections of .the main pla-nes areraised at. a dihedral angle., the motor is started, and when sullicientinitial velocity has heen attainedwthe said vseotions ot' the mainplanes are 'quiekljr brought level in order to rise quickly or to clearan object in front of the aeroplaneJ and the saine op- 'eration may beefleeted for similar purposes Ywhen the machine is traveling m the'an"with the port and starboard sect-ions of the inaiu planes elevated asaforesaid. nother advantage is that in Corning to earth e. in landing)when tlie motors have been stopped or in gliding dovn when the mot-orsfor any reason stop. the port and starboard sections are elevated asaforesaid to any desired degree, thas insuring a safe gliding descent;ln glidingv down with planes slevated another advantage is' that inlanding th planes can be brought level quickly"A when near the ground'to redc the 'shoelt of landing.

4The aeroplane may be llocwii with the' planes level or elevated asatoresaid (apart from gliding down) and particularly in rough weather. Asingle vertical rd'd'er ifs' used, and the center of elevator andltailare in line with top planes, all controls boing conveniently placedfor the operator. The

elevating planes being set ont. gifrea't'er'f" distance from the frontof 'the main planes than the distance from the rear of the main planesto the tail planes` (the former distance being approziui'atelv one` andOnethird times'the latter msm-neel insures the. gliding; down of theaeroplane when the motors stop or are stopped.

The. method of propulsion is h5*- t vo inde# pendent motors Q and 8eat-li :of 1s' eapa'ole of z-nistainin;T the machine innight andoperating' independent ropeller's D and D1, one propeller in from?- themain and one at. the rear ot the main planes. These propellers are inIahnem'en, and the rea;1 propeller revolves in the opposite d1-reservoir.

.. to a resilient arm 5 carried by the lil-plane.

, and starboard main planes and are connectrection to thaiiof the frontpropeller and also at. a greater number of revolutions per" iiiiniiteior with a greater pitch. The motors may be used alternatively in flight,or both may he used at the same time for increased speed. There motors,and tbeaviators seat, are placed below the bottom main plane, and thecenten of each propeller is midway between the top and bottom mainplanes, and in line with the center line of the aeroplane.

The main planes are cambered from front. to rear, in what is known asthe flattened '5 curvature, being curved downward at the front an lupward at the rear, but the ordinarj.' or an)1 curvature may be used.

"the combination oflow center of gravity with the ability to vary thedihedral'angle of the main port and starboard planes, 'together with theposition of ailerons and their movements automatic and otherwise, inconjunction with relativecenters of pressure, and gravity, form amachine thatis coi'nparatively immune from the usual prevailingaccidents.

To fully1 describe the invention, reference is now inadeto the drawingsin which Figure 1, is'a front view with planes closed. Fig. 2, is afront view with planes open, that is raised with dihedral angle. Fig. 3side elevation. Fig. 4, plan of levers i middle section fixed on top'side of lower plane, by which the ort, and starboard sections are raisedat ihedralangles and are closed again, or brought level. i Figs. 5 and6, section and lan of .vlieels and skids-and absorbers. ig. 7, controlfor air engine, and; Figs. 8 and 9, are elevation and lplan views of theair engine and Referring to Figs. l and i2 1 -A are the and a cord orwire 4 connects the aileron at its outer end. to the main frame. Asimilar'eord or wire 4 connects the aileron The two resilient arms:''are secured'to the planes Bl of the bi-plane and project inwardly'toward the seat for the aviator. Inoperation, the cords i tend to flexthe ailerons A when the. lli-planes are elevated'. and the resilientarms if and the cords It; tend to restore the ailerons to normalposition whenihe iii-planes are lowered.

B 13 and Bl Bl are the port and starboard main planes, l5 l5 are'tlietop port ed to the middle section by hinges; these hinges cover thedistance between the front and rear stanchions l" l? of the middlesecwill be rectified' automatical tion. The lower planes B B areconnected by crossed levers I I by which thev are moved" dilieflrally upto l5 degrees orvniort.l or less as desired.

The means for moving the planes B and i running at a big B1 consists ofthe crossed levers I having their adjoining ends connected to sleevesM1. and M2 that are slidalily mounted on the bar X of the main frame..The free ends of said levers l are each provided with similar sleeves 5that are slidahly mounted on liars Y of the frame of the planea B1. Saidlevers I and barsYare adapted to be moved between those positionsindicated in full and dash lines in Fig. l, and the means for el'ectingwhich consists of manually and i'iiechanicall-v actuated. devices. Themanually actuated device consists of a lever 6 pivotally mounted on thebar X and connected to the slidable sleeves Mt and M2 through the mediumof links 7 and 8. Said lever 6 is located within convenient reachi ofthe aviator, and by whom it is operated for regulating the iuclinaion ofthe planes' l'and l5'. The mcchanicd means for actuatinglthe levers Iconsists of a cylinder R having a piston rod 9 adapted to be connectedwith either of the sleeves M1 or M2. Said piston rod is actuated throughthe medinni of compressed airwithin the cylinder lt, and which issupplied thereto from a sui'tahlv charged reservoir or tank l0, thatconnects with vsaid cylinder R at opposite ends tliroiigh the medium ofapipe 11. The pipe 1l. is provided withvalves 13 and 14 controlling theadmission and exhaust re-- spectively to the cylinder IL-'- (ir J istinI chassis or undercarriage made of wood, or steel tube or othersuitable maf terial; this carries the aviator, motors,

.wheels and skids,'aiid may be made of the form shown or other suitableform. lVe place the aviator-s .seat and our motors (in this case petrolmotors butany suitable motor may be used) below the lower planes to.secure stability.

Fig. f-The elevator C is placed I6 feet from the front edge of mainplanes and is 12 feet by :2 feet 8 inches. The tail C1 is 'plat-ed, 12feet from rear edge 'of main planes and is of the same dimensions as theelevator. le are not bound by these dimensions. Y l

The tail is a fixture horizontally-and both elevator and tail have theircenters in line with the top planes; this position of the elevator andtail adds to stability. Further the horizontal position of the elevatoris maintained automatically b means of two tested helical. springs (orot er mechanism may he used) so that any sli of the aviator E' so thatwhen not controlled the aeroplane steers itself horizontally. Thepropellers D and D1 are placed centrally between the main planes in themiddle section of the aeroplane- D1 pitch and also revolving propellersare driven by independent moher number of revolutions or having a greain the opposite direction from D. These t r, and the thrust of Bl is inthesamoi v i .trol suitably ixed in connection with aileron control Iasis usual. The rudder is maintained in a. straight line by two testedhelical springs Lx or other like means, unless moved hv the aviator.

l* 1g. o, 1s a section, l* ig. 6 a plan of wheels and skids attached toundercarriage to absorb shock on landing.

The pneumatic' cylinders N, N1 and J are attached to frame ofumlercarriage, the rods H and H1 pass through pneumatic cylinders N, N1,the wheels are fixed on bottom end of rods H and H1. At the top end ofsaid rods are fixedurswinging links O connecting to sinds h. Air-tightpistonsattached to rods worlt within cylinders; between top covers ofcylinders, and piston head are helical springs, which springs serve twopurposes, that isnt-hey assist to absorb shock and return pistons tobottom of cylinders, their norinzd position. As the piston m ves towardiop -of cylinder the inclosed air is forced through oriiice P at a ratethat is calculated to prevent shock, with the aid of the springs. Theskids K are connected so as to como into action when pistons are abouthalf stroke, the swinging links O O are made of sniiicient length andconnected forward of center line so tnat when the links O O -are nearlyvertical the skids K are in action; the said cylinders and rods withistons fand springs, may with advantage nient in avoiding shock.

From enr description it is clear that the present invention embodies asafer aeroplane than the machines in use. Independent inotors andpropeliers, a low center of gravity, niain planesicapable of elevation,ailerons connected as described, and noi-king antoniatically crotherwise, elevator and rudder kept in their respective positionsautomati- Je used in connection with this skid arrange` ,so l c cally,the position of elevator and tail,I all l combine to insure safety tothe aviator.

What we do claim as'our invention, and

desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In an aeroplane, thecombination of a, main frame; biplanes rigidly connected together andhingedly connected to said main frame at either side thereof; a pair ofaile` rons flexibly secured to `the top planes of said hiplaiesg a pair.of resilient arms se' cured to said iii-planes; cords connecting theailerons to the main frame whereby to flex the ailerons through theelevating movement of the iii-planes; and cords connecting the aileronswith said flexible arms whereby to restore the ailerons to normal on thelowering movement of the bi-plane, substantially as described.

2. ln an aeroplaneythe combination of a :nain frame; iii-planes rigidlyconnected together and hingedly connected to said main frame at eitherside thereof; means for actuating said planes comprising sleevesslidably mounted on the main `frame, sleeves slidably mounted on saidiii-planes, crossed le? vers connecting said sleeves, and an actuatinglever connected to said first-named sleeves; a pair of ailerons llexiblysecured to the top planes ol' said iii-planes; a pair of resilient armssecured to said iii-planes;

cords connecting the ailerons to the main frame whereby to flex the,ailerons through the elevating movement of the lil-planes; and cordsconnecting the 'ailerons with said Ilexiblearms whereby to restore theailerons to normal on the lowering movement of the bi-plane,substantially' as described.

In testimony whereof, we atlix our signatures, in presence of twowitnesses.

Witnesses:

E. GARLAND BELL, Onivn K. Annul.

